Swiss prosecutors have frozen bank accounts containing SF250 million (US$142 million) they suspect could stem from bribes a French company is alleged to have paid to sell warships to Taiwan, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The case is part of a bribery scandal surrounding Elf Aquitaine, the formerly state-owned French oil giant at the center of a web of graft inquiries, SonntagsZeitung reported.
French prosecutors are investigating allegations that Elf Aquitaine provided millions of dollars in bribes to help French firms win a lucrative contract to sell six frigates to Taiwan in the 1990s.
"Based on reports filed by two banks, we have frozen funds linked to the sale of frigates and opened a money laundering investigation," Dave Zollinger, in charge of legal assistance and money laundering at the Zurich district attorney's office, was quoted as saying.
He declined to confirm or deny the amount the paper said was blocked, but praised as "exemplary" the behavior of the bank in coming forward to report the suspect money.
The newspaper identified the banks as Credit Suisse and its Bank Leu subsidiary, which had received the funds recently from another large Swiss bank.
Zollinger could not be reached for comment. A Credit Suisse spokesman declined comment.
The newspaper said the case came to light when Credit Suisse became suspicious of a man from Taiwan who said he was depositing the large sum on behalf of his wealthy parents.
The French corruption scandal has already claimed some high-profile victims.
Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas was convicted of corruption and sentenced to six months in prison last month at the end of a trial that captivated France with its tales of sex, greed and ambition. The judges also convicted four of Dumas' six co-defendants on charges ranging from embezzlement to receiving misappropriated funds from Elf between 1989 and 1993.
His one-time lover, Christine Deviers-Joncour, got three years in prison, of which 18 months were suspended, and a large fine.
Former Elf chairman Loik Le Floch-Prigent was given a three-and-a-half-year prison term and a fine, while his number two at the company, Alfred Sirven, was jailed for four years in prison and a fine.
France's biggest postwar sleaze trial laid bare accusations of endemic, institutionalized corruption during the twilight years of former president Francois Mitterrand.
Among the various strands still under investigation are charges that Elf gave slush funds to the political party of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl.
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